Dance With Me
by DarkFlame
Summary: On her 20th birthday Hermione encounters Severus Snape at t3bs. Not quite sure of the direction.
1. Birthday Blues

Dance with Me

Dance with Me

_Based loosely on the song by Jenna Greene_

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its character's are JKR's and the song is Jenna Greene's._

_Summary: On her 20__th__ birthday Hermione encounters Severus Snape at t3bs. Not quite sure of the direction. Chapters will be short for now as my English teacher thinks I need to improve on not being long winded._

Hermione Granger, age twenty, had decided to celebrate her birthday in solitude at The Three Broomsticks, as she had celebrated with her friends the preceding Saturday and none of her colleagues took enough interest in her to do more than bid her a merry birthday at dinner. It was Tuesday, September Nineteenth, 1999 and she had thought that getting out of Hogwarts would do her some good.

For it was at Hogwarts where she worked, and Hogwarts where she lived; she had attended school at Hogwarts and would most likely die there as well. When Minerva McGonagall took over as Headmistress in Hermione's seventh year of schooling she had offered to allow her to take her NEWTs early and take on an apprenticeship with her, along with the position of Professor of Transfiguration and Head of Gryffindor.

Yet, as she surveyed the pub over her ale, she realized that now she had no home to call her own, and her friends had all drifted since the war. Most of her coworkers still thought of her as a student, although she had proved herself a capable young woman. Those that viewed her as an equal hardly thought of her as a peer. For that they had reason, of course, for she was over a century younger than some of them, but it was still emotionally difficult on her. She knew that she was a reasonably attractive young woman, yet she could not recall having felt this alone in over five years.

She banged her fist, ale in hand, down on the table as the door to the pub slammed shut. Some of the cool, golden liquid sloshed out of the mug, but she did not notice. Her attention was instead on the catalyst of the slamming door, one of her colleagues.

_Please, review. This is the first fanfic I've ever been able to stick with to the point of posting it._


	2. The Colleague

Dance with Me

Chapter Two: The Colleague

_Based loosely on the song by Jenna Greene_

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its character's are JKR's and the song is Jenna Greene's._

_Summary: On her 20th birthday Hermione encounters Severus Snape at t3bs. Not quite sure of the direction. Chapters will no longer be short._

Severus Snape had endured a long day. For the past month or so they had seemed to be getting longer when they, in fact, had been getting shorter. He attributed this to Head of Gryffindor Know-it-All Hermione Granger. In his opinion she was even more insufferable as a professor than as a student.

She would not have been much trouble if she was like any other professor, but she was different. Aside from constantly showing him up, he found complaint with her teaching style. She was _nice_ to the students. She allowed discussion of material to _digress_, especially with the upperclassmen. She encouraged _competitiveness_ in her classroom, debates about theories and open conversation. The students _enjoyed_ having her as a professor, some of the boys enjoyed it a bit too much. Yet, as bad as her classroom policies were, her policies outside of the classroom were far worse.

It was counteracting these policies that had given Severus the headache he had now. As head of Gryffindor, Professor Granger had a large stake in both intra and inter-house politics. The politics of Gryffindor concerned the politics of Slytherin greatly, and as Head of Slytherin House, they thereby concerned Severus.

Hermione Granger attacked house policy with vigor after the war. She dealt with problems, counseled students, and acted as she should. But she also encouraged her house to rely on and be responsible for itself. Younger students went to older students with their problems, asking for help and advice. Unfortunately Slytherins were the bane of younger Gryffindors. A fourth year Slytherin would bully a second year Gryffindor, who would go to a sixth year Gryffindor for help. Then Severus would have to deal with the young Slytherin. These things happened constantly, but could never be discussed, especially not after the role Slytherins had played in the war.

So Granger's policies were something Severus suffered frequently. Normally he could last until the end of the week before going on a drinking binge, but this week it was only Tuesday and he was already walking to The Three Broomsticks. He had not slept well over the weekend and had double potions with Slytherin and Gryffindor fifth years, and had to break up a dual. That had been about Professor Hermione Granger. More specifically Dennis Creevy of Gryffindor defending said professor's honor after Donavan Brackly of Slytherin had said something along the lines of "That's one Mudblood that I would like to throw on top of her desk and teach her where her place is."

Severus had given detentions for dueling, along with subtracting points, discussed with Mr. Brackly why such comments were inappropriate, and then had to deal with a night of dreaming about performing said suggestion. He had awoken, unrelieved, only to eat breakfast next to his young tormentor and colleague. And as he walked into the pub he noticed _her_, looking at him.


End file.
